Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, January 20, 2017: Turkmenistan’s men’s ice hockey team will make its debut at the Olympic Council of Asia’s 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, next month, and part of the build-up included the Ministry of Internal Affairs Cup at the National Winter Sports Centre in Ashgabat. Seven teams, divided into two groups, took part in the competition, which ended with Galkan beating Shir in the final.

Galkan forward Eziz Akmuhammedov, who scored five goals in the final, was named best forward of the tournament. Iliya Veliyev (Shir) and Kerimly Chariyev (Galkan) were named best defenseman and best goalie, respectively.

Chariyev plays for the national team and will be on the roster for the OCA’s 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo from February 19-26, when Turkmenistan will play in Division Two Group B against Malaysia, Macau-China, Indonesia and Iran.

It will be the first time for Turkmenistan’s hockey players to compete in such a prestigious international tournament.

Wayne Simmonds checked all the boxes at the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Game, including scoring the winning goal for the Metropolitan Division in a 4-3 victory against the Pacific Division in the championship of the 3-on-3 tournament at Staples Center on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Flyers forward, who was named the MVP, said he had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish in his first NHL All-Star Game.

“Just don’t make yourself look like an idiot,” Simmonds said. “Don’t dump and chase. Try to keep the puck on your stick. There’s a lot of great players around … and I was thinking maybe just defer to everybody else to be honest with you. But it ended up that I had some big goals. It was great playing with all those guys.”

“It was quite a kick save,” Holtby said of McDonagh. “It’s a game-saver right there. I think we were both surprised that it stayed out.”

After Atkinson tied the game 3-3 by scoring on his own rebound with 5:03 left, Metropolitan forwardTaylor Hallwon the ensuing faceoff by pushing past Pacific centerJeff Carter.

“I didn’t even tell the guys on the ice I was doing it,” said Hall, the New Jersey Devils forward who played for the Pacific Division last season when it won the first 3-on-3 All-Star Game tournament. “I just saw they were lined up three across on the red line and tried to push it through.

“It seemed to work out a couple times like that during the game. It’s fun to try that kind of stuff in an all-star game.”

Breaking quickly on a 2-on-0, Hall fed a perfect pass to Simmonds, who had skated past Pacific defensemanDrew Doughtyand beat goalieMike Smithwith 4:58 left to break the 3-3 tie.

“It was kind of funny because I stuck my stick behind [Doughty’s] helmet on the faceoff and flipped it up, so possibly he was trying to fix it,” Simmonds said. “[Hall] went forward with it, and I just took off … I said to [Hall] before, ‘I’m going to try backdoor on one of these plays,’ and about a foot from the net I just thought, ‘Just hit me with the puck and hopefully I can put it in.’

“That’s exactly how we scored.”

Simmonds, who had two goals in the Metropolitan Division’s 10-6 semifinal win against the Atlantic Division, won a 2017 Honda Ridgeline as MVP.

In the second half of a tight game, the pace and intensity picked up dramatically.

“When you get to the final, you might as well try to win,” Metropolitan Division captainSidney Crosbysaid. “You could see the intensity, guys backchecking and blocking shots. It started to get a little more serious as it went along. That’s to be expected. Guys are competitive.

“And who’d have thought the offside rule would come into play there, but you need the bounces if you’re going to win.”

The Pacific Division thought it went ahead 4-2 at 3:24 of the second half when Kesler’s shot went in off McDonagh.

The 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend included the announcement Friday of the final 67 of the League’s 100 Greatest NHL Players presented by Molson Canadian.

Before the Central Division and Pacific opened the 3-on-3 tournament, 48 of those 67 legends were introduced and came out onto the Staples Center ice before the four All-Star teams made their entrance.

Each all-star exchanged fist-bumps down the line of legends.

“That was pretty surreal, crazy,” Holtby said. “You were giving them fist-bumps, but it was almost like you’re doing them a dishonor, that you should be shaking those guys’ hands.

“When I passed Ken Dryden and I’m fist-bumping him, I felt like I should be shaking his hand and saying how much he’s meant to the game and to me. It was very cool. I’m glad they all looked like they enjoyed it and got the recognition they deserve.”

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